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Bodleian Libraries
@bodleian.ox.ac.uk
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Amazing collections and breath-taking libraries. Facilitating research at the University of Oxford.

Readers: www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk
Visitors: visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk
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bodleian.ox.ac.uk
Even the lawns at the Radcliffe Camera have stories to tell. 👏

This new pattern, designed by University Parks team leader James, transforms one of Oxford’s most iconic spaces into a work of art.

📸 | @jimigk13 (instagram)
View of a weathered 'Please Keep Off the Grass' sign in the foreground with St Mary's Church in the background. Aerial view of the Radcliffe Camera, a circular building with a domed roof, surrounded by a symmetrical green lawn in Oxford. View of the University Church of St Mary the Virgin with its intricate Gothic architecture and spire, situated next to a lush green lawn in Oxford. View of a meticulously maintained lawn with geometric grass patterns at Radcliffe Camera, Oxford, surrounded by historic stone buildings.
November 10, 2025 at 2:50 PM
bodleian.ox.ac.uk
Happy 423 years of us! 🎉 📚

The Bodleian Libraries opened for the first time on 8 November 1602...

This means, we're older than the refracting telescope (1608), the publication of Shakespeare's Hamlet (1623) and Sir Isaac Newton's apple (1666)! 😅
Illustration of the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford, featuring an intricate architectural drawing of the historic building with detailed facade, numerous windows, and figures dressed in academic robes seated in the foreground. Engraving of the interior of the Bodleian Library at Oxford, featuring detailed architecture with arched ceilings, rows of books, and figures walking between the bookshelves. Aerial view of the Radcliffe Camera surrounded by Oxford University's historic buildings, with a cloudy sky above. Aerial view of the historic University of Oxford, showcasing intricate architecture and a person walking across the courtyard.
November 8, 2025 at 7:01 AM
bodleian.ox.ac.uk
Service update: the Bodleian Old Library and Gladstone Link will close at 6.30pm today because of an emergency lighting failure. The Radcliffe Camera will remain open until 9pm as usual but may only be accessed from Radcliffe Square, not via the Bodleian Old Library.

Thank you.
A photo taken from behind the Bodleian's statue of the Earl of Pembroke, who is silhouetted against the Old School's quad on a sunny day.
September 24, 2025 at 4:28 PM
bodleian.ox.ac.uk
Yesterday marked the start of the Autumn equinox, but we were busy celebrating #MedievalMonday.

We hope this beautiful photo of the Radcliffe Camera, framed by the autumnal leaves of Exeter College gardens makes it up to you.
A photograph taken from Exeter College gardens, looking up the wall of the garden and the Radcliffe Camera peeking from beyond. Orange and brown leaves from a tree above the photographer frame the image, and bushes in front have red, orange and yellow leaves giving the whole scene a distinctly autumnal feel.
September 23, 2025 at 2:15 PM
bodleian.ox.ac.uk
📚If you’re about to start at Oxford, we hope to become some of your favourite places 📸😉

The Bod isn’t just one library — it’s over 25, with millions of resources. It’s also a Legal Deposit Library, which means it holds (nearly) every item published in the UK and Ireland. 🤯
A student reaches for a book from a bookshelf in the floating stacks at the Weston Library, Blackwell Hall, Bodleian Libraries.
September 17, 2025 at 3:43 PM
bodleian.ox.ac.uk
Our medieval curator Alison Ray introduces Rawlinson Bodleian Library MS. Rawl. D. 252...a 15th Century necromancer's journal.

This manuscript contains spells written in Latin and Middle English, and would have served as a reference for a professional sorcerer.

#MedievalMonday
September 15, 2025 at 3:17 PM
bodleian.ox.ac.uk
'Woke up this morning with
a terrific urge to lie in bed all day
and read. Fought against it for a minute.

Then looked out the window at the rain.
And gave over. Put myself entirely
in the keep of this rainy morning'

excerpt from Rain, by Raymond Carver.
The Radcliffe Camera as seen from High Street, silhouetted against a rainy grey sky. Pedestrians with umbrellas in the foreground. Clarendon Quad with the Old Bodleian to the left, the Clarendon Building to the right and the Sheldonian Theatre in the centre. Pedestrians hurry past in waterproofs with umbrellas held aloft. The pavements are slick with rain and the skies above are a murky grey. Catte Street in the rain with three friends silhouetted against the Old Bodleian. The dome of the Radcliffe Camera reflected in a puddle.
September 15, 2025 at 10:31 AM
bodleian.ox.ac.uk
The Radcliffe Camera: beautiful since 1737.

With thanks to student Shabnam Taghiyeva for the video.
September 10, 2025 at 8:59 AM
bodleian.ox.ac.uk
Join MED:EL (the world's leading hearing implant company) at the Bodleian for a free, in-person educational session exploring the science, innovation, & human stories behind cochlear implants.

Register here: bit.ly/4mKGgy8

9 Sept | 10am–12pm | Weston Library
<<>>
September 4, 2025 at 1:19 PM
bodleian.ox.ac.uk
Our medieval offerings for #InternationalDogDay:

1. Dog leaps over an initial in Ms Bodl 264.
2.'Drop it!': a dog with a rabbit in its mouth runs away from its owner. MS Bodl 264.
3. Dog jousts a monkey MS Douce 131.
4. Lapdog sits by their ailing mistress MS. Douce 195.
A page of Latin text from a medieval manuscript. Two columns of closely written words are decorated with small illuminations; rubrics, small pictures of birds and other animals, and floral details. In the central column, a small dog leaps playfully over a gilded initial in Ms Bodl 264 fol 8r. A dog with a rabbit in its mouth runs away from a disgruntled looking owner along the lower left margin of this highly decorated manuscript– highly relatable to modern dog owners, we’re sure. MS Bodl 264 fol 52r. A dog riding a deer, jousts against a monkey on goatback in this very elaborately decorated 12th Century Psalter. Lots of colour, illustration and gilding throughout this manuscript. An illuminated initial immediately above the jousting animals shows a man being knighted. Shelfmark: Bodleian MS Douce 131 fol 32r. A beloved pooch faithfully waits at their ailing mistresses’ bedside in a two panel illustration. The mistress lies on her bed with her head on her hands, while a small white dog is on the floor next to her. This manuscript belonged to Louise of Savoy, 1476–1531, whose son became King Francis I of France. Shelfmark: Bodleian Library MS. Douce 195 fol. 1r.
August 26, 2025 at 12:31 PM
bodleian.ox.ac.uk
You'll notice lots of different decorative symbols on the arches (or 'bosses'). These details include coats of arms of benefactors who funded the build, symbols from folklore and bible stories; and even the initials of the medieval stonemasons themselves.
A close up of the ceiling showing the symbols carved into the stone. There are lots of initials; some of these are thought to represent the benefactors who funded the building of the Divinity School whilst others (particularly towards the back of the room, as funding dried up as the school took many years to complete) are thought to belong to the stone masons carving the ceiling themselves. There are also allegorical images from the bible and folk lore - a fox can be soon stealing a goose in one striking carving - and many coats of arms.
August 20, 2025 at 10:02 AM
bodleian.ox.ac.uk
Did you know? The Divinity School was built between 1427-1483, making it one year older than the Aztec Empire 🤯.

It's one of the oldest surviving purpose-built university buildings and was originally used as a lecture hall for theology.

The architecture is in the Perpendicular Gothic style.
A photograph showing the breadth of the Divinity School ceiling at the Bodleian Libraries, as viewed from below. The ceiling is carved from a light stone and is extremely ornate, featuring huge vaulted arches that span the width of the room. On either side are floor to ceiling length windows.
August 20, 2025 at 10:02 AM
bodleian.ox.ac.uk
Bodleian Book Hospital. 22 August, 11.00–15.00.

Bring flapless lift-the-flaps & scribbled on bedtime stories to the Bodleian Book Hospital where our Conservation Team will fix 'well-loved' favourites and show little ones how to care for treasured tomes.

visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/event/summer...
Promotional poster for Bodleian Book Hospital at Blackwell Hall in The Weston Library, featuring a Richard Scarry pop-up book and a repair checklist on a 'operating table'. In the top right a logo that reads 'BBH' in the style of the NHS logo and on the left a round sticker that says 'Repaired at the Book Hospital'. Collage of images from our last Book Hospital event showing Bodleian staff, children and parents engaging in reading and crafting activities. Includes one of our talented conservators reading to a group, another pretending to repair a book with medical gauze, and a young child attending a craft session making colourful paper projects. A round sticker overlaying the images reads 'Book Doctor In Training'. A document titled "Book Hospital Check Up Sheet" including fields for 'Trainee Book Doctor's Age', today's date, and questions about the condition of a book, with checkboxes for types of damage and a space for drawing the book's damage.
August 5, 2025 at 10:41 AM
bodleian.ox.ac.uk
It’s #MedievalMonday and the start of August - which means you must all be waiting with bated breath to see what your Labours of the Month are.

August is typically represented by threshing or reaping. Exhausting work -as you can tell from the expressions on these faces we found in our archives!
An open medieval manuscript depicting a highly detailed calendar page with illuminated script and a border design in gold, bright blue, red, green and pink. Below the text, an illustrated scene shows two figures threshing and reaping grain with sickles in a courtyard. Bodleian Library MS. Canon. Liturg. 99. https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/3c49e764-fa4b-433c-bb79-6901edd32b8f/ Illustration from a medieval manuscript showing a person wearing a hat and cloak, holding a sheaf of wheat over his shoulder and looking extremely dejected while seated on a decorative letter. Latin text around him relates to the month of August and the labours required. Bodleian Library MS. Auct. D. 2. 6 from a manuscript by Saint Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1033-1109. https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/1f893d08-f517-4fa8-9e20-02c225c70b71/ Illustration from medieval manuscript showing a person in a red and green tunic and tights with a green hat, harvesting wheat with a scythe, looking directly at the reader with a distinctly unimpressed expression. He's standing beneath a frame of Gothic architectural elements. Bodleian Library MS. Rawl. D. 939; Astrological and ecclesiastical calendar in six pieces; 1100-1500. England. https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/eca53671-3a29-46ef-acae-3aa2b3b48195/ Gold embossed illumination from a medieval manuscript showing three individuals harvesting wheat. The person on the right uses a tool to gather plants, the one in the centre collects a bundle of harvested wheat from the ground, and the person on the left watches whilst holding a cudgel...perhaps to 'inspire' his fellow labourers. Below, a smaller embossed miniature shows the personification of the astrological sign Virgo. Virgo, 'The Virgin', is usually represented as a young woman holding a sheaf or bundle of wheat. Bodleian Library MS. Add. A. 46. 13th Century calendar from a Psalter. Flanders. https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/5b5a488d-cf31-4bab-a347-b5ae26c01f12/
August 4, 2025 at 10:03 AM
bodleian.ox.ac.uk
RIP Ozzy Osbourne. We scoured the archives to find our best medieval bats in the rocker’s honour.

#MedievalMonday.
1. Bodleian Library MS. Canon. Misc. 554
2: Bodleian Library MS. Ashmole 304.
3: Bodleian Library MS. Bodl. 764.
4: Bodleian Library MS. Ashmole 1511.
Illuminated bat from the Ashmole bestiary showing a bat on a gold background inside a red and green frame. The bat is brown with black wings and cartoonish, with incongrously detailed human-looking facial features. Three outlines of three bats as marginalia in a yellowed page from a Bodleian manuscript. The bat marginalia are hastily drawn (likely added by a different hand than the scribe who wrote and illustrated the rest of the text). The bats have simplistic facial expresisons; one has two eyes and a straight line for a mouth, the second has a soft smile, and the third has something between the two. A page from a bestiary showing Latin text and a black bat illustration in an embossed gold square. The bats wings look feathered and the shape is bird like, suggesting whoever drew it may not have seen a bat up close before. An immediately strange looking illustration from a medieval Paduan text. A bat flies above an illustration of a man, and both are roughly the same size. The bat has cat like legs and a long tail, and is shaped like a winged rat.
July 28, 2025 at 12:22 PM
bodleian.ox.ac.uk
Professor #MaryBeard helped celebrate 100 years of the Friends of the Bodleian in iconic style by delivering their much anticipated Annual Lecture, on the theme 'Risky encounters: the library in fact and fiction'.

Watch the full talk on our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VAz....
July 24, 2025 at 4:30 PM
bodleian.ox.ac.uk
Please let us know if you're able to casually squeeze any of these into conversation today in Raymond's honour (perhaps NOT during working hours).

Thank you also to other donors for making this acquisition possible:
V&A Purchase Grant Fund
Friends of the National Libraries
Friends of the Bodleian
Image 3: Manuscript Page Titled "Similes and gags—Continued" A third typed manuscript page continuing the list of similes and one-liner gags. Multiple handwritten edits and revisions appear throughout. Transcript: Similes and gags—Continued. She threw her arms around my neck and nicked my ear with the gunsight As soothing as a piano salesman The only difference between you and a monkey is you wear a hat A salad so fancy it ought to be pinned to the wall for a decoration This is hush-hush. I’m only telling it to the people I know A little well-bred obscenity never did any harm It was the kind of house where they have a monogram on the toilet paper As exclusive as a mailbox A great long gallows of a man with a ravaged face and a haggard glass eye. (used) His smile was wide, about three quarters of an inch He had a soft water voice As lonely as a lighthouse As much sex appeal as a turtle The day lay ahead of him flat and heavy as a fallen cake Fashion Note: cocoa-colored crepe dress and brown straw hat. Deep blue frock with a matching halo hat, and a waist length veil on the hat. Delphinium colored. Gold-rope wedding ring.
July 23, 2025 at 9:31 AM
bodleian.ox.ac.uk
One of the most interesting glimpses into the author's writing process are these lists of similes which he kept, crossing them off as he used them and making a note of the book title in the margin.

#RaymondChandler #DetectiveFiction
A yellowed typed manuscript page with the title “Similes, etc.” at the top. The list contains similes, some with handwritten edits and comments in pencil. Photographed on a black background inside a glass exhibition case. Transcript: css Copy Edit etc Similes—Continued No more charm than a washtub As limp as a busboy’s shirt As lonely as an old abandoned well (cut) “.” “.” The caboose of a fifty car freight (used?) As French as a doughnut Smart as a hole through nothing No more personality than a paper cup His face was long enough to wrap twice around his neck As shiny as a clubwoman’s nose Generous as a trade rat As graceful as a Chopin ending Like the little dog who goes around and wets after the big dog Too weak to lift a Scotchman’s tip Take five minutes of my time and tell me Did you ever see an act of God? I never even saw God So tight his head squeaks when he takes his hat off He sipped like a hummingbird drinking dew from a curled leaf (used) I don’t like your tone. I was hoping you wouldn’t. (Not much) She had a nice cool goddamyou smile Longer than a round trip to (Siam) Take your ears out of my way and I’ll leave. If you don’t leave, I’ll get somebody who will (Wutchie) (used) I left her with her virtue intact, but it was a struggle. She nearly won.
July 23, 2025 at 9:31 AM
bodleian.ox.ac.uk
🎉 Today is Raymond Chandler (1888-1959)'s birthday.

We are lucky enough to have acquired his archives thanks to generous support from the National Heritage Memorial Fund.

These archives include literary papers, correspondence, business and personal papers...
A yellowed typed manuscript page with the title “Similes, etc.” at the top. The list contains similes, some with handwritten edits and comments in pencil. Transcript: css Copy Edit Similes, etc. As rare as a fat mailman (postman) (cissy) As shallow as a cafeteria tray As meaningless as cheap lacquer As hard as a park bench (use in another sense) As meaningless as a smoke ring As dull as a football interview As cold as a bride’s dinner As cold as a nun’s breeches As clean as Aunt Harriett’s guest room As clean as an angel’s neck (brow?) (Turner? Kay?) As cold as Finnegan’s feet (dead) (funeral?) As slippery as a watermelon seed As noiseless as a finger in a glove High enough to have snow on him (head) (bring in the lake) As systematic as a whore As busy as a dirty story in a sorority house As inconspicuous as a privy on the front lawn As comfortable as a chiropractic treatment As tight as a rubber stocking As weak as a Chinaman’s tea As empty as a scarecrow’s pockets (Used) *pencil note here denoting that the simile is in the Big Sleep* As fancy as a Filipino on Saturday night As confidentially as a madam counting the take Too weak to crawl over a worm
July 23, 2025 at 9:31 AM
bodleian.ox.ac.uk
These images are taken from a 14th Century codex in Middle English & Latin.

The first illumination shows a man, 'Harry the Hayward', and his dog, 'Talbat'. Although the talbot is a dog breed, there are other medieval examples of this being used as a dog name – notably in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.
An image from a medievla manuscript with text that reads 'Harry the Hayward' above a figure blowing a horn wearing a red hood, a smock in green and brown, and a pair of tights which are red on one side and green on the other. He's holding a red elash with a dog labelled 'Talbat' next to him. A picture showing the Labour of the Month for December, which is feasting. A man wearing a crown is seated at a table, holding a ceremonial chalice. The table is laid with food including the head of a boar and roasting meat. A medieval illumination showing the Labour of the Month for July (or 'Iulius'). A man clad in green and brown is holding a scythe and threshing. An illustration showing the Labour of the Month of 'Mayus', or May. A man wearing a crown is seated on a horse holding a flower aloft with a kestrel on his other gloved hand. The kestrel represents falconry which is one of the Labours of the Month for mAY.
July 21, 2025 at 12:08 PM
bodleian.ox.ac.uk
Do you know which West End musicals go with these book titles, taken from the History Faculty Library?

Let us know your guesses in the replies, we'll reveal the answers tomorrow!
July 16, 2025 at 4:34 PM
bodleian.ox.ac.uk
A reminder to please vote for Duke Humfrey's in the 1000 libraries global 'Top Ten Most Beautiful Libraries' competition - and a big thank you to everybody who has voted for us so far.

1000libraries.typeform.com/to/TdFzuF5W?....
July 10, 2025 at 3:48 PM
bodleian.ox.ac.uk
We're thrilled that National Student Survey (NSS) results for 2025 have been released & that this year's graduates have once again rated Oxford’s libraries (the Bodleian & college libraries) as the top-rated university library with 97.4% satisfaction!

www.officeforstudents.org.uk/data-and-ana...
Aerial photograph of the Radcliffe Camera and other rooftops and spires (including the spire of University Church) in the golden light of an early summer morning by Whitaker Studios.
July 10, 2025 at 9:41 AM
bodleian.ox.ac.uk
Last week we celebrated the start of building work at our Collections Storage Facility in Swindon. The expansion will create 3 more aisles of storage (we currently have 31), 4 on-site visitor rooms, a Digitisation room, a Conservation Laboratory & a specialised metal object store.
Image description: Bodley’s Head Librarian and the Helen Hamlyn Director of the University Libraries, and head of GLAM, Richard Ovenden, (who was not afraid to get stuck in at the ground-breaking ceremony!) is pictured smiling broadly at the camera whilst wearing a high vis jacket and hard hat and holding a ceremonial spade engraved with the date and details of the CSF extension project. And before you ask, yes, this spade will be added to our collection. A peek at the racking inside the CSF. The camera is at the end of an aisle, with metallic shelving on both sides. Barcoded boxes full of boxes are visible on the shelves at eye level. At the end of the aisle is the cherry picker from which book orders are retrieved. Incredibly, most orders placed by 10.30am at other Bodleian sites will have CSF items delivered the same day. A closer look at the cherry picker inside the vast shelving at the CSF. A woman with blonde hair and a ponytail stands on the cherry picker and holds a box of books. The shelving pictured is made from stainless steel racking and stands 11.4 metres high.
July 9, 2025 at 4:08 PM
bodleian.ox.ac.uk
Library Services update for this weekend (Saturday 12 July - Sunday 13 July)

For more information: www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/service-upda....
A photograph of a colourful bookshelf overlaid with an Oxford Blue square. Text inside the square begins with a heading that reads 'SOLO'. Subheading: 'temporarily unavailable from Saturday 12 July until 6am Sunday 13 July 2025'. Main body text: Ask library staff for help with: Borrowing books Searching the catalogue Accessing electronic resources. FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/service-updates. Below a QR code which links to the same webpage, the University of Oxford logo and the Bodleian Libraries logo.
July 9, 2025 at 1:54 PM